No One Knows About Persian Cats is a glimpse of the Iranian underground

Cannes film festival hit No One Knows About Persian Cats is a tantalising glimpse into the underground music scene in Iran after President Ahmadinejad’s ban.

No One Knows About Persian Cats follows life after Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad forced modern music underground

Making modern music is risky business in Iran; since President Ahmadinejadâs ban on âWestern and decadent musicâ, performing and listening to rock, rap and soul is illegal. In this Cannes hit from Iranian Bahman Ghobadi, weâre introduced to former prisoners and ârebel musiciansâ Ash and Negar, who have a plan: put together an indie rock band, scrabble together some passports and travel to London to perform a gig â putting on a show in their homeland before they go. That multi-layered mission sees them journey through the secretive underbelly of Tehran, takes in music genres from rock to heavy metal to rap, and has them team up with fast-talking fixer Nader, who promises to sort out the necessary paperwork.

Ghobadiâs film plays like a handy-cam, fly-on-the-wall documentary, and its underdeveloped narrative sometimes stops it from being as involving as it could be. But in being based on a true story and featuring real-life Iranian musicians, it feels honest and urgent, offering a tantalising glimpse of a passionate and talented community desperate to be heard.

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